Stomp of tech’s ‘big beasts’ ripples across the docklands

As multinationals move to Dublin the market has seen employee enclaves develop around Silicon Docks

Over a decade ago, Gareth Lambe lived in an apartment in Millennium Tower, a 17-storey apartment block on the edge of the Grand Canal basin in Dublin.

The view from the striking white tower, down along Pearse Street in one direction and over to Ringsend and Irishtown in another, wasn’t much to look at back then. Now Lambe is head of Facebook Ireland and goes to work every day at a glossy office building across from Millennium Tower that will soon house 1,500 workers.

From its sixth-floor terrace, he can see the booming docklands, home to the European headquarters of Google, Airbnb and countless others. There is constant pedestrian traffic snaking in and out of office blocks, cafes, restaurants and the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and new Marker hotel next door.

“And the rents now...,” said Lambe, blowing out his cheeks and shaking his head. Your Home from Home, a